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Top Document: [sci.astro,sci.astro.seti] Resources (Frequently Asked Previous Document: A.04 What should I do if I see an article that doesn't follow these guidelines? (What about cranks?) Next Document: A.06 What are good Net sites for astronomy info and images? See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge This list is an attempt to compile the locations of the biggest sites and those with extensive cross-references. Please let me know other sites *that fall into these categories* or *categories not included*. The FAQ can't list everybody's favorite site, but it should list sites that cross-reference most people's favorites. Indices * AstroWeb: Astronomy/Astrophysics on the Internet [multiple mirror sites] - _NRAO, US East_, <URL:http://fits.cv.nrao.edu/www/astronomy.html>, - _STScI, US East_, <URL:http://www.stsci.edu/net-resources.html>, - _CDS, France_, <URL:http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/astroweb.html>, - _ESO_, <URL:http://ecf.hq.eso.org/astroweb/yp_astro_resources.html>, - _ESA, Spain_, <URL:http://www.vilspa.esa.es/astroweb/astronomy.html>, - _ANU, Australia_, <URL:http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/%7Eanton/astroweb/>, * _Students for the Exploration and Development of Space_, <URL:http://www.seds.org/>, (SEDS) (Images, Info, and Software Archive) - _anonymous ftp_, <URL:ftp://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/pub/>, - _astroftp (text)_, <URL:ftp://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/pub/faq/astroftp.txt>, list - _astroftp (HTML)_, <URL:ftp://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/pub/faq/astroftp.html>, list * _Galaxy_, <URL:http://galaxy.einet.net/galaxy/Science/Astronomy.html>, * _Google Groups_, <URL:http://groups.google.com/>, Data Archives and Catalogs * _JPL Solar System Dynamics_, <URL:http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/>, ("information [about] all known bodies in orbit around the Sun.") * _Centre de Donnees astronomiques de Strasbourg_, <URL:http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/>, (in English and includes SIMBAD) * _NSSDC Astrophysics Data_, <URL:http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/astro/>, (space missions and catalog data) * _Astronomical Data System_, <URL:http://adswww.harvard.edu/>, (professional journals, conference proceedings, data) * APS _Catalog of the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey_, <URL:http://isis.spa.umn.edu/>, Images & Simulations * _Astronomy Picture of the Day_, <URL:http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html>, * _SkyView_, <URL:http://skyview.gsfc.nasa.gov>, (digitized images of any sky coordinates, multi-wavelength) * _Jet Propulsion Laboratory_, <URL:http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/>, (JPL) * The Nine Planet _Planetary Picture List_, <URL:http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/tnp/picturelist.html>, * _NASA JSC Digital Image Collection_, <URL:http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/>, (mostly Earth and spacecraft) * _U.S. Geological Survey_, <URL:http://www-pdsimage.wr.usgs.gov/PDS/public/mapmaker/mapmkr.htm>, * _The Web Nebulae_, <URL:http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/twn/>, * _Messier Database_, <URL:http://www.seds.org/messier/>, * _Solar System Live_, <URL:http://www.fourmilab.ch/solar/solar.html>, Societies, Institutions, Publishers * _American Astronomical Society_, <URL:http://www.aas.org/>, * _Royal Astronomical Society_, <URL:http://www.ras.org.uk/>, * _American Association of Variable Star Observers_, <URL:http://www.aavso.org/>, * _NASA_, <URL:http://www.nasa.gov/>, * _Space Telescope Electronic Information Service_, <URL:http://www.stsci.edu/resources/>, * _Sky and Telescope_, <URL:http://www.skyandtelescope.com/>, * USGS _Astrogeology Research Program_, <URL:http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/>, Related Usenet newsgroups (see also A.01) * _*sci.physics*_, <URL:news:sci.physics>,: Physical laws, properties, etc. * _*sci.physics.particle*_, <URL:news:sci.physics.particle>,: Particle physics discussions * *sci.space.**: Discussions of space policy, travel, technology, etc. * *talk.origins*: Discussions of creationism vs. evolution, the Big Bang, and other science topics Related FAQs Many related newsgroups have FAQ's. Most can be obtained by anonymous ftp from _rtfm.mit.edu_, <URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/sci/>. FAQ for *sci.physics* available via _anonymous ftp_, <URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/sci/>, and on the Web from various mirrors including _US West Coast mirror_, <URL:http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/>, _European mirror_, <URL:http://www.desy.de/user/projects/Physics/>, and _Australia mirror_, <URL:http://hermes.physics.adelaide.edu.au/%7Edkoks/Faq/>. FAQ for *sci.space* available via _anonymous ftp_, <URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/sci/space/>, Astro/Space Frequently Seen Acronyms available via _anonymous ftp_, <URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/sci/space/>, FAQ for *sci.astro.planetarium* available via the _Web_, <URL:http://www.lochness.com/pltref/sapfaq.html>, FAQ for *sci.skeptic* available via _anonymous ftp_, <URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/sci/>, FAQ for *talk.origins* available from the _talkorigins_, <URL:http://www.talkorigins.org/origins/faqs-qa.html>, Web site FAQ for relativity _Usenet Relativity FAQ_, <URL:http://www.weburbia.com/physics/relativity.html>, FAQ for black holes _Black Holes FAQ_, <URL:http://cosmology.berkeley.edu/Education/BHfaq.html>, FAQ for calendars _Calendar FAQ_, <URL:http://www.tondering.dk/claus/calendar.html>, FAQ for supernovae and supernova remnants _Supernovae and Supernova Remnants FAQ_, <URL:http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/supernova/>, Lecture notes, essays, compilations, etc. * _The Nine Planets_, <URL:http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/tnp/>, * Nick Strobel's _Astronomy Notes_, <URL:http://www.astronomynotes.com/>, * _The Constellations and Their Stars_, <URL:http://www.astro.wisc.edu/%7Edolan/constellations/>, * John Baez's _General Relativity Tutorial_, <URL:http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/gr/gr.html>, * _The Astronomy Cafe_, <URL:http://www.astronomycafe.net/>, * _Virtual Trips_, <URL:http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/rjn_bht.html>, to black holes and neutron stars * _Bad Astronomy_, <URL:http://www.badastronomy.com/>, * _Powers of 10_, <URL:http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/>,---The Size of the Universe (interactive Java tutorial) User Contributions:Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic:Top Document: [sci.astro,sci.astro.seti] Resources (Frequently Asked Previous Document: A.04 What should I do if I see an article that doesn't follow these guidelines? (What about cranks?) Next Document: A.06 What are good Net sites for astronomy info and images? Part0 - Part1 - Part2 - Part3 - Part4 - Part5 - Part6 - Part7 - Part8 - Single Page [ Usenet FAQs | Web FAQs | Documents | RFC Index ] Send corrections/additions to the FAQ Maintainer: T. Joseph W. Lazio <jlazio@patriot.net>
Last Update March 27 2014 @ 02:11 PM
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with stars, then every direction you looked would eventually end on
the surface of a star, and the whole sky would be as bright as the
surface of the Sun.
Why would anyone assume this? Certainly, we have directions where we look that are dark because something that does not emit light (is not a star) is between us and the light. A close example is in our own solar system. When we look at the Sun (a star) during a solar eclipse the Moon blocks the light. When we look at the inner planets of our solar system (Mercury and Venus) as they pass between us and the Sun, do we not get the same effect, i.e. in the direction of the planet we see no light from the Sun? Those planets simply look like dark spots on the Sun.
Olbers' paradox seems to assume that only stars exist in the universe, but what about the planets? Aren't there more planets than stars, thus more obstructions to light than sources of light?
What may be more interesting is why can we see certain stars seemingly continuously. Are there no planets or other obstructions between them and us? Or is the twinkle in stars just caused by the movement of obstructions across the path of light between the stars and us? I was always told the twinkle defines a star while the steady light reflected by our planets defines a planet. Is that because the planets of our solar system don't have the obstructions between Earth and them to cause a twinkle effect?
9-14-2024 KP